Fabric linking machines



Nov. 14, 1967 D. MATTHEWS FABRIC LINKING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet l FiledFeb. 3, 1965 Nov. 14, 1967 D. MATTHEWS 31,352,264

FABRIC LINKING MACHINES Filed Feb. 3, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent O 3,352,264 FABRIC LINKING MACHINES Denis Matthews,Sutton-in-Asheld, England, assignor t Matthews & Birkhamshaw LimitedFiled Feb. 3, 1965, Ser. No. 430,131 Claims priority, application GreatBritain,

Feb. 5, 1964, 4,785/ 64 3 Claims. (Cl. 112-25) ABSTRACT 0F THEDISCLOSURE Mounting of points on which fabric is impaled in a knitwearlinking machine by providing die cast segmental blocks fitting end toend in ring-like manner in a channelled ring carriage, a group of thepoints being cast in each block, and the blocks being secured to thebase of the channelled ring carriage by screws sunk in the blocks, anyof the blocks being thereby removable for repair or replacement purposeswithout removal of any other parts.

Background of the invention This invention is for improvements in orrelating to linking machines of the type adapted for uniting knittedfabrics and provided with points upon which superimposed loops of thefabrics are impaled and the invention concerns the mounting of thepoints.

In circular linking machines the usual dial assembly for carrying thepoints comprises a ring carriage having underneath gear teeth (generally280) and an upper annular recess, a tricked dial ring fitted on theouter wall formed by the recess, points of crank form fitting so thatparts thereof are received in the tricks of the dial ring, the walls ofthe tricks being rivetted or peined over these parts of the points, andother parts of the points lying in the base of the annular recess, andcap segments which are secured in the annular recess, by screws, oversaid other parts of the points.

In the event of breakage'of a point, without other damage, the securingcap segment and the point could be removed and a new point fitted, butif the walls of the trick in the dial ring are also damaged, it thenbecomes necessary to remove all the cap segments, remove the trickeddial ring and to fit a new dial ring followed by re-iitting the capsegments. In addition to the time and labour involved and the loss ofproduction time, the trickul dial rings are comparatively expensiveprecision components being made of brass and requiring several machinetool operations and cutting of a multiplicity of tricks for locating thepoints. Furthermore when fitting the points in the tricks, further timeand labour is involved in pliering the points. A still furtherundersirable feature of the usual arrangement is that the cap segmentsare for certain commercial reasons made of a frangible material whichleads to breakages while fitting the segments to the ring carriage.

An object of the invention is to provide means for mounting the pointswhich are of such improved construction that in the event of a pointbreaking, the fault can be rectified by performing a comparativelysimple removal and fitting operation with a minimum of expense, time andlabour and without breakage of cap segments.

The invention lprovides a linking machine in which the points areprovided in end to end groups, the points of each group being set in ametal block, and the blocks being secured end to end in a channelledsupport by screws. In a circular type linking machine the channelledsupport is the usual ring carriage, and the mounting blocks of thepoints are of segmental form. Conveniently the number of blocks is equalto the number of teeth in the usual gear ring under the ring carriagedivided by the lCe number of teeth in the usual pinion meshing with thegear ring. Conveniently also the number of points in each mountingAblock is equal to the number of teeth in the usual changeable Worm gearmounted co-axially with said pinion. Each block may have a base portionwhich rests on the base of the channel in the channelled support, andfront and rear .portions which overlie front and rear portions of thesupport with clearance between the opposed surfaces. The machine mayhave a needle or a yarn feeder overlying the path of the blocks, and theblocks are secured to the support by Allen screws to allow clearway forthe blocks passed the needle or yarn feeder.

The invention also provides a circular linking machine having achannelled ring carriage mounted for rotation and formed underneath witha ring gear, drive transmitting means including a pinion meshing withthe ring gear and a co-axial wonn gear which is interchangeable withsimilar gears having different numbers of teeth and is driven by anelectric motor, segmental blocks secured end to end in the channel ofthe ring carriage, the number of blocks being equal to the number o-fteeth on the ring gear divided by the number of teeth on the pinion, andeach block having a group of points set in it, the number of points ineach group being equal to the number of teeth in the said worm gear.Conveniently the machine comprises a rotatably mounted channelled ringcarriage, a needle having a path of movement over the ring carriage, ayarn feeder for feeding yarn to the needle, drive transmitting meansadapted to impart drive to said ring carriage, needle, and yarn feederand including a common drive shaft driven by an electric motor, andblocks of points removably secured in end to end relationship in thering carriage.

The invention further provides in or for the machine; a metal blockmounting a group of points and Ibeing a diecasting.

The above and other features of the invention set out in the appendedclaims are incorporated in the construction which will now be described,as a specific embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIGURE l is a side view of a linking machine according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of part of the linking machine.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross sectional View of a ring carriage andattached blocks of points.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective View of part of the ring carriage and a blockof points secured therein.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2 a linking machine is represented by supportcasing 1 which overhangs from a supporting `pillar 2 and which supportsa ring carriage 3 in rotatably mounted manner.

The casing 1 houses motion transmitting mechanism indicated generally at4 for a needle 5 which has a path of movement across the ring carriage.This motion transmitting mechanism includes a connecting rod 6 extendingfrom an eccentric 7 on a shaft 8 driven by an electric motor 9 throughbelt and pulley means 10.

At the inner side of the ring carriage is motion transmitting mechanismindicated generally at 11 for a yarn feeder 12 which overlies the ringcarriage, and this motion transmitting mechanism includes a connectingrod 13 extending from an eccentric 14 on said shaft 8.

For driving the ring carriage it has on its underside a ring gear 16with which meshes a pinion 15 on a spindle 17, and co-axial with thepinion 15 and on the spindle 17 there is a worm gear 18 which isinterchangeable with similar gears having different numbers of teeth.This Worm gear 18 meshes with a worm 19 on a spindle 20 on which thereis also a worm gear 21 meshing with a worm 22 on 3 said shaft 8. The`spindle is supported fro-m the shaft 8 to be displaceable about theshafts axis to allow for the different sizes of worm gears such as 18. Aspring (not shown) biases the spindle towards engagement of the wormgear 18 and worm 19.

The ring carriage 3 is of usual channelled form shown particularly inFIGURES 3 and 4 the channel recess 3a forming a base wall 3b, a frontwall 3c, and a rear wall 3d which includes an inner side shoulder 3e andan outer side rebate 3f.

For mounting the usual ring of points P on the ring carriage, the usualtricked dial ring of brass and the usual cap segments for securing theusually cranked points to the carriage, are dispensed with.

Instead, groups of shortened comparatively straight points are set eachin a metal block 23, and the blocks are secured in readily removablemanner in the ring carriage.

More specifically each block is a die casting of segmental form withradial end faces 23a, 23b, FIGURE 4, and they are mounted end to end asshown in FIGURE 2.

Each block 23 is die cast with the group of points P cast in it, andeach block comprises a base `portion 23e, FIGURE 3, a rear portion 23dformed with a rabbet 23e which is deeper than the shoulder 3e of thering carriage 3, and a front portion 23jc which projects upwardly andprovides a forwardly projecting portion 23g to which the points P arecast.

Each block is secured in the ring carriage, with the base 23C o-f theblock resting on the base wall 3b of the ring carriage, and with aclearance between the rear rabbet 23e and shoulder 3e and between thefront portion 23jC and the wall 3c, by two Allen screws 24. These screws24 are of button headed type Vfor which purpose each block has recesses25 to receive the button head` 24a.

The ring gear usually has 280 teeth andthe pinion 16 usually has 20teeth, and for satisfactory operation of the segmented block arrangementof points, the number of blocks is equal to the number (280) of teeth onthe ring gear divided by the number (20) of teeth on the pinion, thenumber of blocks being therefore 14, and therefore each revolution ofthe pinion is accompanied by the passage of a block passed a given spot.

Since points of different pitches are employed in linking machines,there is provided a range of the worm gears 18 having different numbersof teeth, and there is also provided a range of blocksof points in whichthe points are of different pitch spacings. In each instance, since theadvance of one tooth of the worm gear should be accompanied by thepassage of one point passed a given spot, the number of points in each`block is equal to the number of teeth on the associated worm gear.

In the event of breakage of one or more points, it is necessary only toremove a mounting block simply by taking out the two screws andreplacing it by another block of the points.

It will be appreciated that this arrangement is considerably lesstroublesome, less time consuming, and less costly than in the usualarrangement when the usual costly tricked ring of brass has to beremoved and replaced, after removing all the cap segments and followedby re-iitting of all the cap segments. No pliering of points isnecessary and there are no breakages of cap segments.

What is claimed is:

1. A linking machine having in combination a channelled ring carriagewith a front wall, a series of die cast segmental blocks fitting in saidchannel ring carriage in mutual end to end relation forming a ring-likeassembly -of said blocks, each said block having an upper forwardlyprojecting portion projecting over said front wall of said channelledring carriage and a series of radial sub.

stantially straight points cast in said upper forwardly projectingportion of said channelled ring carriage with a predetermined pitchspacing and projecting beyond said front wall of said channelled ringcarriage, and screws removably securing said blocks to said channelledring carriage, whereby any of said blocks can be removed with their ownseries of points cast in them and be replaced by other similar blockshaving their own series of points similarly cast in them with the sameor different pitch spacing.

2. A linking machine having in combination a channelled ring carriagewith a front wall and a base wall, a series of die cast segmental blocksfitting on said base wall in said chanuelled ring carriage in mutual endto end relationforming a ring-like assembly of said blocks, each saidblock having an upper forwardly projecting portion projecting over saidfront wall of `said channelled ring carriage and a series of radialsubstantially straight points cast in said upper forwardly projectingportion of said channelled ring carriage with a predetermined pitchspacing and projecting beyond said front wall of said channelled ringcarriage, and screws sunk in said blocks and removably securing saidblocks to said base wall of said` channelled ring carriage, whereby anyof said blocks can be removed with their own series of points cast inthem and be replaced by other similar blocks having their own series ofpoints similarly cast in them with the same or different pitch spacing.

3. A linking machine having in combination a channelled ring carriagewith a front wall and a base wall and an underneath gear wheel, a drivenpinion meshing with said gear wheel, a driving worm gear co-axial with fsaid pinion, a number of die cast segmental blocks equal to the quotientof the number of teeth in said gear ring and the number of teeth in saidpinion and in mutual end to end relation forming a ring-like assembly otsaid blocks, each said block having an upper forwardly projectingportion projecting over said front wall of said channelled ring carriageand a number of radial substantially straight points equal to the numberof teeth in said worm gear castfin said upper forwardly projectingportion of said channelled ring carriage with a predetermined pitchspacing, and projecting beyond said front wall of said channelled ringcarriage, and screws removably securing said blocks to said channelledring carriage, whereby said worm gear and any of said blocks can beremoved with the blocks own points cast in them and be replaced byanother worm gear and other similar blocks` having their own series ofpoints similarly cast in them with the same or different pitch spacing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 608,626 8/ 1898 Secor 112-251,894,885 1/1933 Parkin 112-25 2,868,147 1/1959 Wood 112`25 2,948,2408/1960 Burd et al. 112-25 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. V. LARKIN. Assistant Examiner.

1. A LINKING MACHINE HAVING IN COMBINATION A CHANNELLED RING CARRIAGEWITH A FRONT WALL, A SERIES OF DIE CAST SEGMENTAL BLOCKS FITTING IN SAIDCHANNEL RING CARRIAGE IN MUTUAL END TO END RELATION FORMING A RING-LIKEASSEMBLY OF SAID BLOCKS, EACH SAID BLOCK HAVING AN UPPER FORWARDLYPROJECTING PORTION PROJECTING OVER SAID FRONT WALL OF SAID CHANNELLEDRING CARRIAGE AND A SERIES OF RADIAL SUBSTANTIALL STRAIGHT POINTS CASTIN SAID UPPER FORWARDLY PROJECTING PORTION OF SAID CHANNELLED RINGCARRIAGE WITH A PREDETERMINED PITCH SPACING AND PROJECTING BEYOND SAIDFRONT WALL OF SAID CHANNELLED RING CARRIAGE, AND SCREWS REMOVABLYSECURING SAID BLOCKS TO SAID CHANNELLED RING CARRIAGE, WHEREBY ANY OFSAID BLOCKS CAN BE REMOVED WITH THEIR OWN SERIES OF POINTS CAST IN THEMAND BE REPLACED BY OTHER SIMILAR BLOCKS HAVING THEIR OWN SERIES OFPOINTS SIMILARLY CAST IN THEM WITH THE SAME OR DIFFERENT PITCH SPACING.